Show about ARIZO arlzo ARIZONA N A 41 agricultural RESOURCES iCES RAIN FALL FALI PASTURE LANDS LADS STOCK RAISING A correspondent with wc wheeler el ere y expedition x to ina pha make i explorations pl orations of ahk the on one oue e hu hundredth n meridian writes as follows to the new york k tribune arizona presents pie pi more variations of altitude and consequently of facilities for agriculture than thau new mexico from the valley of the deshich de which near santa banta fe has an all elevation of about feet above sea level west there is a gradual rise for some miles until the summit of the sierra madre having an altitude of feet is reached thence there is as gra gradual duala a descent to the colorado river miles west of the sierra madre nyi INI adre the latter river having in the same latitude as santa fe an elevation of but a few hundred reb rea feet above the tile sea in the pait of the are area alluded to which lies west of the mountains there is every variety of climate soll goil and scenery depending t principally upon comparative comparativo compard tive tivo altitude albit u de the amoun tand time of ii rainfall is nearly the same here as in new mexico and here also no agricultural or horticultural enterprise is possible without irrigation irrigations the rhe middle western and southwestern portion of arizona but little above sea lev level levei el is one vast desert and boasts of only two streams mojave is not worth mention colorado and the gila glia the climate and oil foil f on the borders the colorado liver ilver adapt its to the growth of some semitropical semi tropical troels a and nearly all the northern fr fruits and vegetables except the apple and tho the potato cotton sugar cane coff beaud rice flourish along it but hitherto the water of the river riven river niver has not been made available for irrigation long and costly acequias ace guias being required to effect this near its exit from the territory of the united states its bottom widens and the hiven river annually overflows its banks for miles in ordinary years ars a vast amount ot 0 land could be planted after the receding of of the waters to their natural bed and would produce enormous crops some of the bottom lands are already thus cultivated the gila is the most important river of arizona from a utilitarian point of view it rises in the sierra de nueva of new mexico at an altitude of about feet above sea level thence flows west to the colorado Colom doa a distance of nol not quite miles having an average fall in its last miles of five feet per mile an average width of 60 feet a depth of three feet and a velocity of two miles per hour its are low making it an easy to cut from it irrigating ditches and it already supports a population of whites and population indians nai nal alls alis and is capable of reclaiming hundreds of thousands of of wasted lands the valley as well as the hill country on both sides of it is rich in grass and would be especially adapted to sheep were shade trees more plentiful this river drains avast a vast extent of country and the numerous trib joining it at an altitude of 2000 to feet above the sea have fine bottom lands are full of fish and the mountainous country in inclosing them abounds in fine grasi grask grass and timber and grain the higher barren mountains running parallel with the gila are rich in the precious ores and coal and may attract a large mining population and thus furnish to the farmer a market near at hand there is a prospect of the construction of the tile thirty second parallel railroad which for many miles is to skirt the level banks of the river the plateaus and mountains arizona comprising about one sixth of its area over f neet feet abo above sea level are very rich in the best wild grasses and are covered with fine timber especially the white mountain country recently explored and opened to settlement tl 1 ahey they hey are plentifully watered and offer inducements for settlement by the farmer and stock raiser miser especially the latter the portion over feet high is perhaps too cold for winter pasturage age but in two days dass the stock could be driven en to te warmer quarters to the gila on the west or the colorado chiquito chi Ohi quito on the east cast the colorado plateau is a pasture ground of great excellence hundreds of miles square but lacks water and lies too high for foi farming purposes it is totally uninhabited hundreds of springs and a few email emali streams can be found which might make their owners the virtual possessors of all that country around them from one spring to another for perhaps fifty nifty miles every foot of this great plateau is covered with fine grass and cedar or pine not far from the town of prescott Prescot fc and f along the rio bio verde is a very rich farmin farming grazing and timber country wun vun which has until lately been subject to the depredations of the apache mojares Mo javes but is now safe enough for settlement diany many valuable mines have been worked in different parts of the territory for many years past but the depredations of the apaches apaches have so far prevented the country from a assuming any great mining importance |